Upworlder
by CaptiveBird
Summary: Brittany is living a normal life in England until she's thrown into a completely new world, a world she is certainly not welcome in. With the help of an exotic girl she meets named Santana and a quirky boy named Tyrant, Brittany attempts to escape this world as soon as possible but doesn't expect to fall in love whilst she's there. AU. Fantasy. Give the story a try!
1. Chapter 1

**This story is ****_extremely_**** AU, it wasn't originally supposed to be a fanfic so if there are any names that don't make any sense then that is why. **

**This is just an experiment and I wanted to see what people thought so if people enjoy it then I'll continue to write it as a fanfiction too.**

**I think all of the characters in this apart from Santana and Brittany are going to be OC's, I don't know why, they just are. Try and get past the first chapter, Santana is introduced in the second one, it's going to be a slow moving story but hopefully people will stick around and enjoy it! :)**

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Brittany enjoyed the time she had to herself; she didn't get much privacy in her life. She shared a room with a fourteen year-old girl—which wasn't the most ideal thing for a sixteen year-old, especially when the said fourteen year-old had a little brother who would often come into their room late at night crying, claiming that he couldn't sleep because of nightmares.

All in all, nothing about Brittany's life was quiet everything was busy and scheduled from waking up in the morning, showering and being able to use the computer.

A couple of months ago, Brittany had discovered a small pond, it was an unexpected find, much like a lot of things to come in the near future but it was _hers. _It was the only place that Brittany could be by herself and do as she pleased until her curfew. Brittany had come across it during the spring, she had decided to take a stroll; getting out of that house was something that she needed to do. Brittany was in fact surprised that nobody had found this pond before; it was hidden in the middle of a lush forest and protected by a group of trees.

The pond itself was breathtaking in Brittany's eyes, despite being overrun with long grass and all sorts of bugs and plants. There was one tree in particular that resided beside the clear pond; it had a thick, strong base which made it easy and not too uncomfortable to lean on. Brittany would take her iPod and a book with her and spend hours in what she felt was blissful peace. Just being.

Today in particular was a cold day, which in fact was a normal day in England, even during the summer. Brittany had decided to wrap up, she wore an extra jumper over her blouse just in case and instead of shorts she wore a pair of denim jeans. Her blonde hair was up today, Brittany felt like she wanted to wear a bun today, so that's what she did. It also meant that reading was easier; she wouldn't have hair constantly falling in her face.

Brittany pushed at the thick branches that blocked her path before quickly wiping her now moss stained hands on her jeans. The grass beneath Brittany's feet was unhealthy, it wasn't lush like the rest of forest she had travelled through, she could hear the faint _crunching_ of the grass beneath her trainers as she moved through it.

Finally, Brittany was here at her own fortress of solitude. Her blue eyes skimmed over the small enclosed pond and a faint, just smile weaved it's way onto her lips. With her book under her arm and her hand clasped tightly over her iPod, Brittany walked to her usual resting spot— under the tree.

As the blonde slumped down against the tree and stuck her ear buds into her ears, she didn't realize that her pond was different. Something wasn't right.

Brittany flicked through her playlist on her iPod, which she had composed a couple of weeks ago for visiting her pond. It was a mixture of soft, relaxing songs to slightly upbeat rock songs. She had an open mind when it came to music.

The blonde teenager found the song she desired and pressed play, the familiar music from her iPod filling her ears and drowning her senses in sweet, sweet bliss. Brittany opened her book and flicked to the page she was last on, it didn't take her long, she had folded the page corner down which reminded her that she needed to take a trip into town for a bookmark.

The blonde's attention was completely focused on the book she read and the songs playing on her iPod.

Around an hour had passed, Brittany had managed to get through two chapters of her book and around seventeen songs (after skipping a couple she didn't want to listen to) she glanced up and did a double take, not believing what she saw.

The pond beside her started to simmer as if it was resting on top of a pit of fire, or the hob of an oven. Thin wisps of steam slowly started to pull themselves out of the water and escaped into the atmosphere where they slowly disappeared and a light breeze picked up, causing the leaves on the trees to sway back and forth in a rhythmic way. Brittany pulled her ear buds out and placed her book and iPod on the floor before hesitantly edging over to the pond.

Brittany's eyebrows furrowed as she glanced at the pond, it started to spit water as if it was a bubbling cauldron. The girl jumped back, falling to her feet and moving away from the pond as it started to bubble dangerously.

Brittany climbed back to her feet and studied the pond for a moment; whatever was going on was starting to scare her. Instead of leaving, Brittany watched, this was the most exciting thing that had happened to her—ever. Just as she thought the sight before her couldn't get any weirder, the pond stopped bubbling and within seconds the pond was still and the steam had disappeared.

There was silence. There had been silence all along but Brittany's mind was throbbing, leaving her thoughts racing around in her head.

As the blonde was about to take a step towards the pond there was a flash from the pond and the murky, dirty water started to dissipate from the middle and was soon replaced with a glowing teal colour.

Hesitantly, Brittany moved over to the pond again and knelt at the bank, she glanced at her faint reflection in the teal water and reached out in curiosity to touch the water. Surprised that it wasn't hot or even remotely warm, Brittany placed her whole hand in the water and moved it around a little with a soft, amused smile on her lips. The blonde went to pull her hand out of the water when she felt something grasp at her wrist.

The blonde's eyes widened in horror as she tugged at her hand and couldn't pull it out of the water, as she glanced to her reflection, she saw it wasn't her own.

She froze in horror as she examined the face of a boy; he had thick dark curls that framed his face and piercing blue eyes that grew smaller as his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. He ran his tongue over his lips and Brittany felt another tug at her wrist this time a little stronger than the last tug. She tugged back at whatever was grasping at her as she struggled to move away from the bank but with another sharp tug at her wrist, Brittany lost her balance on her knees and fell face first into the odd teal water.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two - We finally meet Santana and learn a little about the world! Happy reading!**

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Brittany was floating. She felt weightless, like a feather—she was free. It was dark though, which caused Brittany to question whether or not she was in bliss. Wherever she was she wanted to stay here. Wherever she was, it was as if Brittany had no troubles, she had nothing to worry about because she was _flying._

But as soon as her adventure in this unknown dream had begun, it was over. The blonde's eyes flickered open and the realization hit her, she was under the water, she felt so light because the water was carrying her body, but there was no weightlessness.

It was in fact the exact opposite; she was drowning.

A firm arm wrapped around her waist and Brittany felt herself being pulled out of the depths of the water and pulled onto land. Spluttering was all that came from Brittany; she squeezed her eyes shut as the water slowly and quite painfully was forced out of her lungs. As Brittany opened her eyes again, there was a boy hovering over her, his face pained with concern as he watched the blonde girl splutter.

It was the same boy from the reflection of the pond.

"Are you okay?" The curly haired boy asked as the blonde sat up.

She breathed slowly and deeply as she recovered, nodding her head quickly in reply.

"Good—I was worried about you." The curly haired boy said as he went from kneeling to sitting cross-legged next to Brittany.

Brittany didn't reply as she glanced around herself. This wasn't her pond… She was pretty sure that this wasn't even London anymore.

The sky was a welcoming blue, unlike the dark, grey sky in England. The trees, bushes, shrubs and grass actually looked healthy and tended to unlike the un-tame, withering trees she was used to.

Brittany's eyes trailed down to what the boy was wearing… Was that? Was that a tunic?

The curly haired boy had a deep green tunic on, it was plain and looked scruffy and worn into, a tattered belt hung around his waist and he wore dark blue leggings underneath, there was a rip on one of the knees but he didn't seem to be fazed by it. On his feet he wore leather boots, they had been polished recently and they seemed to be in good condition.

"Why were you in the water?" He asked as she watched Brittany in curiosity, his eyes arching as he took in what she was wearing.

"I wasn't… I fell through the pond." The blonde tried to explain, hoping she didn't sound too crazy; she glanced over to where the boy had dragged her out of the water, only to find a riverbank and _not_ a pond.

As Brittany spoke, the curly haired boy looked deep in thought; he reached out and felt at the bottom of Brittany's sodden jumper. "You dress weirdly, where are you from?"

Brittany stared up at the boy who seemed all too fascinated in what this foreign girl was wearing. Obviously he'd never seen denim jeans and Vans before.

"England…" Brittany stated as if it was the stupidest question she had ever heard.

"England? Where is England?" The boy asked, tilting his head.

"Where are we?" Brittany asked, ignoring the boy's question and beginning to panic.

"We're in Hyaral, a small town west of Malwen farm, it's the only farm near the town so that's where we get most of our vegetables from." The boy explained as he shifted onto his knees again. "We shouldn't stay here much longer," he said before standing up and offering his hand out to the blonde girl. "We should go."

"But I don't know where I am." Brittany said before reluctantly taking the boy's hand, it was rough and a little dirty. "I want to go home."

"I know someone who can get you home, we just have to get out of here." The boy said as he made his way over to the riverbank again to pick up a brown thatch basket. He picked up a very poor looking wooden fishing rod and rested it on his shoulder, as he walked back over Brittany peered into the basket and saw a small pile of fish, it looked like enough to last for a few days.

Brittany stood still as the boy made his way towards a dirt path. "Come on," He said as he glanced back over his shoulder. "You can trust me." The boy said with a seemingly genuine smile.

Brittany nodded before slowly trudging behind the dark haired boy, her clothes were sodden and she was starting to shiver.

"What's your name?" The mop haired boy asked back to his new companion.

"Brittany." The bewildered girl replied, not sure if he'd need to know her last name.

"I'm Tyrant, it's nice to meet you, Brittany." He replied, his tone as cheerful as it had been from when she first met him.

"You too." She replied, her eyes examining her surroundings, most of it was grassland and dusty roads. Every so often a wooden cart being pulled by horses would drive past, the people on the carts transporting a variety of fresh looking foods and goods. All of them dressed similarly to Tyrant. Brittany started to think that she was in some sort of crazy medieval dream or something. It was possible, after seeing what happened at the pond; Brittany was starting to believe that anything was possible.

It took Tyrant and Brittany around half an hour to reach the town that Tyrant had referred to as Hyaral, it was bustling with stalls which sold an array of different items: Clothing, animal furs, antique items such as plates, fine china tea sets, meats, potatoes, wheat and even a weapon stall. The teenage girl couldn't believe what she was seeing. The houses that surrounded the marketplace where wooden with straw thatched roofs. The ground was paved with cobbled stone that looked hard on the feet compared to the flat dusty roads.

Many of the houses posed as shops too, some of them bigger versions of the stalls outside with a larger collection of merchandise. As Tyrant and Brittany walked through the marketplace, she felt the eyes of all the townsfolk on her. The women muttered to each other and pointed as Brittany as she walked by.

The blonde looked down at her clothes; they must look extremely weird when everyone else is wearing outfits that you'd expect to see in Lord of The Rings. Still bewildered with what was going on around her, Brittany tried to keep up with Tyrant and almost lost him a couple of times.

After navigating through the busy town of Hyaral, Tyrant stopped outside a moderately big building, there was a signpost hanging off the wall that read "The Rose and Crown tavern, bringing you the finest accommodation and drinks in the whole of Qaron."

Tyrant held the door open for Brittany as they both walked inside.

"What are we doing here?" The girl asked quietly as a couple of scary looking men with weapons on their backs glanced over to them.

"I'm getting you somewhere to sleep for the evening, it isn't safe to travel at night." Tyrant informed the blonde with a whisper as they approached the bar.

An older man, possibly in his forties stood behind the bar, wiping it down with a wet rag. He glanced up, the candles in the tavern illuminating his tanned skin. "What're you doing here, Tyrant? I didn't think today was delivery day." The bartender said, his voice firm.

Tyrant leaned over the bar to get closer to the exotic bartender. "I need a favour." He whispered. The bartender frowned suspiciously as his eyes quickly darted over to Brittany. He leaned up from the bar and glanced across the room.

"Santana?" He shouted across the tavern, Brittany turned her head and noticed a beautifully exotic girl look up from a table she was cleaning, she brushed her black hair out of her face and gave the bartender a questioning look. "Come here." Brittany was mesmerised by this girl and it embarrassed.

Santana held onto the front of her dress, it was a light purple with a white apron over the top, a matching purple bandana was in her hair, it wasn't actually keeping it back so Brittany guessed it must have been a fashion accessory.

Santana arrived at the bar with a slightly annoyed expression. "What?" She asked impatiently. Brittany thought she was even more breathtaking from up close.

"I need you to take this young lady down to the cellar, make sure she's comfortable. I'll be down to check on her soon, I just need to talk to Tyrant." The bartender said. Brittany looked Brittany over, her gaze lingering for a little too long. She rolled her eyes before hurrying a very confused Brittany behind the bar and through a trapdoor on the floor and into the cellar.

Once the door had closed on top of them the bartender beckoned Tyrant into the storeroom in the back and asked a middle-aged woman to take over.

"Please don't tell me what I think that girl is." The bartender said sternly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I don't know, that's why I brought her here." Tyrant said. "I'm sorry, George, you're the only person in town who has ever come into contact with an Upworlder before."

"I was almost killed because of it too." George replied as he paced up and down. "Have people seen her?"

Tyrant nodded meekly, he probably should have rethought the route they took. "I wasn't thinking properly, I just wanted to get her somewhere safe before any guards started to patrol."

"Where did you find her?" George asked, his brain ticking away busily.

"I was by the river fishing, I decided to go further into the water to see if I could catch more and she just appeared. She floated from the bottom of the sea." Tyrant explained. "I pulled her out because she was drowning, I was worried but when I saw what she was wearing I started to get doubts about who she was."

"There must be a portal there… We can't let the guards discover where you found her, they'll stop us from using the river which will cut off a food source." George was trying to keep a steady head throughout this whole conversation but the arrival of _another_ Upworlder could only mean trouble. "We have to get her back to her own world before anyone finds out."

"So should I take her back to the river in the morning, nobody goes when it's early." Tyrant suggested as she sat down on a crate.

"No, no," George shook his head quickly. "That won't work now… I don't know everything about Upworlders and magic but I do know that portals only go one way. We need to figure out where the next one is and take her there."

"How do we do that?"

"There's an old lady a couple of towns over, it'll take a few days to get there but I've heard that she's one of the wisest people around. It's also been rumored that she's come across many portals herself." George explained.

"Okay, well that's a start. The girl's name is Brittany; we should probably get her some new clothes. I have to make a trip home to drop this fish off, but I'll be back in an hour or so."

"Don't be too long." George said with a stern look as Tyrant stood, his basket and fishing rod in his hands.

"I'll hurry back, I'll tell my Ma that I'm helping out here for the evening." Tyrant said as they both left the storeroom.

George nodded, a large sigh escaping his lips as he watched Tyrant leave the tavern.

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Brittany stepped into the cozy cellar, the floor was cobblestone with straw scattered over the top of it, two beds, and both with wooden frames were positioned to one corner. Wooden beams supported the ceiling and crates upon crates of supplies were scattered around the room.

Santana glanced over to Brittany and offered her an odd look. "Why are you wearing those clothes?" She asked, her eyes travelling over the blonde's attire—which was still wet.

Brittany shrugged, she wasn't sure what else to say, to Santana, what Brittany was wearing was probably strange and vice versa for Brittany.

Santana gave the taller girl another odd look after getting no reply from her. "Would you like some dry clothes?"

"Uh, yes please." Brittany replied, embarrassed.

Without saying anymore Santana left the cellar, hopefully to get some clothes. Brittany took her moment alone to try and wrap her mind around what was happening.

Was she ever going to get back to the orphanage?

Would anyone actually miss her?

…Was she _dead?_

All of those thoughts scared Brittany, she hoped that this was just a really bad dream that she'd wake up from eventually.

At least Tyrant seemed nice... Santana was beautiful but, frightened her a little and the bartender was stern.

Santana returning to the cellar broke Brittany from her thoughts, the exotic girl handed Brittany a neatly folded pile of clothes. It looked like what most people were wearing, a tunic and tights with a pair of soft leather boots.

"Here, they should be the right size… They're mine."

"Thank you." The blonde said politely as she took the clothes from Santana. Brittany stood awkwardly as she waited for the exotic girl to turn around or something.

"Oh, sorry." Santana said, realizing Brittany was waiting for her to look away.

As soon as Santana looked away, so did Brittany. She struggled but managed to slip the wet top and jumper off over her head, she pulled the tunic on. It wasn't the most comfortable thing to wear, but she wasn't complaining.

Getting her jeans of proved to be a difficult task for Brittany but after fumbling for a while she managed to pull them down and swap into the thick cotton tights.

Brittany glanced down at herself and closed her eyes for a moment, she felt ridiculous! She looked like Peter Pan—all she needed now was his hat and a fairy.

Brittany thought Santana was cute enough to be a fairy… As soon as the thought entered her head Brittany mentally kicked herself.

She turned around and saw that Santana was already facing her; it caused her to jump back a little. "H-How long have you been watching me for?"

"…I turned around when you pulled your tights up, don't worry." Santana replied, rolling her eyes again and trying to sound as impatient as possible. Her tone changed slightly as she cleared her throat. "You look good though, my clothes fit you just fine."

Brittany glanced down at herself and nodded, she felt stupid but she wouldn't say that to Santana—not after she had lent her some clothes.

"You aren't from around here, are you?" Santana said after a moment of silence.

"Uh, no…" Brittany replied before glancing to the ground.

Santana studied Brittany for a moment before walking towards one of the crates and hoisting herself up onto it. "So, where are you from?" She asked.

Brittany thought about how she would answer, she'd probably get the same reply she got from Tyrant earlier. "Not around here."

"Are you an Upworlder?" Santana asked, lowering her voice as she did.

"A what?" The blonde asked with a raised eyebrow.

Santana thought for a moment before replying. "My Pa will explain, he and Tyrant should be down soon."

Brittany nodded in reply, leaning against one of the beams, glancing at her feet as she and Santana waited in silence for the others to show up.

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**Things will start to pick up in the next chapter, I just wanted to introduce the girls to each other. :)**


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